Churches of an Anglican heritage descended from the Protestant reformation in England
Anglicanism refers to a set of churches which originated in England in the 1530s, when Henry VIII broke away from the Pope and the Catholic Church. The English reformation was controversial, and since that time Anglicanism has had strong reformed elements and elements which are less reformed, which are called Anglo-Catholic. Individual Anglican churches now exist on a spectrum from evangelicalism to Anglo-Catholic to progressive liberalism.
The Anglican Communion is headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and includes churches from all over the world. But in many parts of the world Anglican churches have split over the issues of Biblical authority and homosexuality, and there are now many Anglican churches which, although they are in communion with each other, are not in communion with the Church of England.
